Iain Abernethy - The blog

This month’s podcast is called “Karate Grappling: Did it really exist?”. The podcast begins by asking if karate really did include grappling in the past. Was grappling part of old school karate or is “karate grappling”, as many modernists suggest, just a modern invention in response to the popularity of MMA? What about the traditionalists that say grappling is not a part of karate? Do either of these views have a case? We’ll also look at the evidence for grappling within kata. If grappling is in kata, what kind of grappling is it and how should be training in it?

To explore all these issues, the podcast examines what the past masters had to say on the subject of karate grappling in their writings. In addition to looking at grappling within karate, the podcast also includes a brief examination of the related Okinawan art of Tegumi. This examination is based upon Gichin Funakoshi’s description of his involvement in these bouts and how he believed such training to be of great benefit to the karateka. I feel the podcast contains a lot of information that will be of interest to the pragmatically minded karateka and I hope it will be bit of an eye-opener.

All the best,

Iain

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The first issue of Jissen is now available for download! As many of you will know “Jissen” is Japanese for “actual combat” or “real fighting”. It’s also the name of a new FREE online magazine dedicated to serving all martial artists that approach the traditional martial arts from their original combative perspective. The magazine can be downloaded here (as well as lots of other places) and details of contents and contributors can be found below. I hope you enjoy it!

Issue One (Spring 2008)

Contents: Tradition and Karate – There is nothing “peaceful” about the Pinans – Kiai: the fading cry of the martial artist – The way of kata – On-Ko-Chi-Shin – Taekwondo Patterns & Self-Defence – Personal Security – The bunkai of basics – How to spar for the street

Contributors: John Titchen, Iain Abernethy, Jamie Clubb, Lawrence Kane, Kris Wilder, Chris Denwood, Stuart Anslow, Peter Consterdine, Mathew Miller

How to download: Right click on the cover image and then select “save target as” (some times “save page as”). Then choose where you wish to save the file (normally the “desk top”) and download it.

All the best,

Iain

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This month’s podcast is a little different! Instead of giving you some information, we’re going to give you something to do. This podcast provides a 25 minute workout which includes shadow fighting, traditional basics, conditioning exercises, aerobic drills, anaerobic drills, punching combinations, slow kata, normal kata, and more! The idea is that you download the podcast to your MP3 player, mobile phone (cell phone for our friends on the other side of the Atlantic), laptop or burn it to a disk. You then listen to the podcast and do as instructed. It’s an ideal “bit of everything” workout for those days where you don’t have enough time to train as you would like. It also requires no equipment and very little space; making it possible to use the podcast in your home or a hotel room.

At the foot of this blog post you will find the link where you can download the podcast (right click on “download”). You can also find a video clip that explains how to use the podcast (visit www.iainabernethy.com if you are reading this on i-tunes or a similar website). You can view the clip online or download it to your computer. When you have watched the clip, you are all ready to go!

A word of warning: This podcast assumes that you are physically and technically capable of training in this way. If you have any doubt, please be sure to take the advice of suitably qualified and experienced person before engaging in the routine. Be sure to adequately warm-up and cool down and work at your own pace!

I hope you enjoy this podcast and find it useful!

All the best,

Iain

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Hi All,

I’ve copied the banner and the introduction below:

Welcome to the very first edition of Jissen! As many of you will know “Jissen” is Japanese for “actual combat” or “real fighting”. This magazine is therefore dedicated to serving all martial artists that approach the traditional martial arts from their original combative perspective. If that sounds like you, then you should enjoy what this publication has to offer!

Iain Abernethy

I hope you’ll enjoy this project and if you’d like to know as soon as the first issue is ready for download, please join the newsletter. More details to follow!

Iain

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In this podcast we discuss the concepts of “jutsu” and “do” and the related benefits and shortfalls of “karate-justu” (karate for real fighting) and “karate-do” (karate for physical and mental development). In the podcast we examine both approaches and see where they differ and where they have common ground. These two suffixes are becoming more significant these days as the need to differentiate between the many activities that reside under the coverall banner of “karate” increases.

In recent times, the term “karate-do” has become associated with ineffective karate that makes little or no attempt to train in a realistic way. The other side of coin is that those who tag themselves as practitioners of “karate-jutsu” are often viewed as dangerous psychotics who revel in violence and who are base individuals unable to appreciate the higher aspects of the martial arts. Are these views justified? Are we using the terms “jutsu” and “do” in the right way? We also look at what a number of history’s most influential martial artists had to say on this subject. This includes the thoughts of Gichin Funakoshi (founder of Shotokan), Hironori Otsuka (founder of Wado-Ryu) and Jigoro Kano (founder of Judo). I hope you enjoy this podcast and I’ll be back with more in 2008!

Best Wishes,

Iain

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A couple of weeks ago I spent a weekend teaching in Munich, Germany (17th and 18th of November). The sessions were great fun and I’m very grateful to all the people who came along for their enthusiasm, kind hospitality and good humour. In particular I’d like to thank James and Pascal for taking care of me and showing me a little of Munich. Over the weekend we covered the combative progression that is central to the application of the Pinan / Heian series. Everyone did great and I was really pleased with how much material we managed to cover.

To help remember all we covered a great many people took notes and some took video. Hans Rockl was one of the people who took video of the event and he was kind enough to send me a copy. I have uploaded a little of that footage and you can view it by clicking on the play button at the foot of this post. The footage briefly shows: The use of shuto-uke to clear the enemy’s flinch; The application of the “block, kick, reverse punch” sequence in Pinan Shodan / Heian Nidan; The use of “nukite”; The use of the “lower block, punch” in Pinan Nidan / Heian Shodan; The application of the first nine moves of Pinan Sandan; and the application of the “punch, jump, lower-cross block” in Pinan Godan. I hope the footage is of interest. Thanks once again to everyone for making my trip so memorable.

All the best,

Iain

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I have recently finished reading a great book! The book is called “Does a broken board equal a broken nose?” and it has the subtitle “Training to achieve the striking force proven to stop an attacker”. The book is that great blend of traditional martial arts, realism, common sense and humour that really appeals to me.

I was sent a copy by the publishers (Paladin Press) and felt compelled to contact the author. Thankfully Brian Struchtemeyer is subscriber to this websites newsletters and his uncommon surname convinced me I found the right guy. We made contact and Brian was kind enough to send me footage of some of the tests that provided some of the data used in the book. If you go to the foot of this blog entry you can view that footage for yourself. Some interesting footage from a great book! I’ve also copied the blurb from the book below so you can read a little more.

All the best,

Iain

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Precisely how hard do you have to hit to stop an attacker?

And how do you train to develop that level of force?

This groundbreaking training guide tackles a vital but overlooked aspect of practicing the martial arts: How do you know your strikes are powerful enough and accurate enough to stop an attacker? How do you measure the strength of your strikes? Has your training accurately simulated a hostile encounter?

Author Brian Struchtemeyer details the exact level of impact force found in modem “less-than-lethal” weapons used by law enforcement to physically subdue criminal suspects and shows you how to attain this level of force with your punches. When officers use LTL tools, they are able to reliably stop more than 90 percent of criminal suspects—and that’s when they are only aiming at the thighs or abdomen. They know they must be careful because the impact force delivered by these tools could cause severe injury or even death if aimed at more vulnerable body parts such as the head and neck.

Struchtemeyer integrates the long sought-after answer to “How hard is hard enough?” with an engaging and often humorous cross-cultural study on the history, nature, and practical use of surrogate targets, including the heavy bag and Okinawan makiwara. Along the way he connects a diverse range of topics, including psychology, early American football, and the statistics of random chance, to the simple goal of effective stopping power in unarmed strikes.

Finally, these varied topics are synthe­sized into a set of training drills using sur­rogate targets that allow you to measure the force of your blows so you know when you are hitting with the same level of impact force proven by law enforce­ment officers to stop a violent opponent in his tracks.

In this podcast we will be examining Anko Itosu’s 10 precepts of karate! In 1908, Itosu - who was the creator of the Pinan (Heian) kata - wrote a letter outlining his views on karate and explaining why he felt karate should be introduced on to the Okinawan school system. It is this letter, and the 10 precepts recorded within it, that is the subject of this month’s podcast.

There are many English translations of this important document; but unfortunately they vary quite a bit and in some instances express very different sentiments. There is a 1938 book called ’Karate-Do Taikan’ which contains relatively good quality photographs of Itosu’s 1908 letter. To get the translation discussed in the podcast, I scanned the pictures of the original Itosu document from the book and sent those scans, without any background information, to one of the UK’s leading translation companies. As non-karateka and professional translators I felt that they would be able to give an accurate translation.

The translation company informed me that the document was written in “a very old literary style” and hence was difficult to translate accurately; even for professional translators. This may also help explain why the existing translations of the document vary so much? The translation company contacted a specialist based in the USA who would be able to accurately translate the document and the scans were sent to him. Not cheap, but worth it I feel.

The translation was taken from scans of Itosu’s original handwritten letter. This translation was also done independently by a professional translator who is a specialist in this kind of work. The translator was not a martial artist and he therefore has no specific view to promote. I therefore have no reason to doubt its accuracy (copied below).

This podcast discusses Itosu’s precepts and some of the ramifications they may have for how we should view karate. I hope that you enjoy it!

Best Wishes,

Iain

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Itosu’s 10 Precepts (translation commissioned by Iain Abernethy)

Karate did not develop from Buddhism or Confucianism. In the past the Shorin-ryu school and the Shorei-ryu school were brought to Okinawa from China. Both of these schools have strong points and I therefore list them below just as they are without embellishment.

1. Karate is not merely practiced for your own benefit; it can be used to protect one’s family or master. It is not intended to be used against a single assailant but instead as a way of avoiding injury by using the hands and feet should one by any chance be confronted by a villain or ruffian.

2. The purpose of karate is to make the muscles and bones hard as rock and to use the hands and legs as spears. If children were to begin training naturally in military prowess while in elementary school, then they would be well suited for military service. Remember the words attributed to the Duke of Wellington after he defeated Napoleon, “Today’s battle was won on the playing fields of our schools”.

3. Karate cannot be quickly learned. Like a slow moving bull, it eventually travels a thousand leagues. If one trains diligently for one or two hours every day, then in three or four years one will see a change in physique. Those who train in this fashion will discover the deeper principles of karate.

4. In karate, training of the hands and feet are important, so you should train thoroughly with a sheaf of straw (#).  In order to do this, drop your shoulders, open your lungs, muster your strength, grip the floor with your feet, and concentrate your energy into your lower abdomen. Practice using each arm one to two hundred times each day.

5. When you practice the stances of karate, be sure to keep your back straight, lower your shoulders, put strength in your legs, stand firmly, and drop your energy into your lower abdomen.

6. Practice each of the techniques of karate repeatedly. Learn the explanations of every technique well, and decide when and in what manner to apply them when needed. Enter, counter, withdraw is the rule for torite.

7. You must decide if karate is for your health or to aid your duty.

8. When you train, do so as if on the battlefield. Your eyes should glare, shoulders drop, and body harden. You should always train with intensity and spirit as if actually facing the enemy, and in this way you will naturally be ready.

9. If you use up your strength to excess in karate training, this will cause you to lose the energy in your lower abdomen and will be harmful to your body. Your face and eyes will turn red. Be careful to control your training.

10. In the past, many masters of karate have enjoyed long lives. Karate aids in developing the bones and muscles. It helps the digestion as well as the circulation. If karate should be introduced, beginning in the elementary schools, then we will produce many men each capable of defeating ten assailants.

If the students at teacher training college learn karate in accordance with the above precepts and then, after graduation, disseminate this to elementary schools in all regions, within 10 years karate will spread all over Okinawa and to mainland Japan. Karate will therefore make a great contribution to our military. I hope you will seriously consider what I have written here – Anko Itosu, October 1908

(#) – Translator not a martial artist and hence translated the word “Makiwara” to “Sheath of Straw” when leaving the word un-translated would have been fine.

This latest podcast calls into question the accepted translation of “Pinan” as “Peaceful Mind”. I’m currently preparing a book on the combative application of the Pinan (Heian) series and, as a result of some of the new research for that book, I’m now convinced that the karate world has got the translation wrong and that this alternative translation has ramifications for how we should view those forms. You can see the characters used for writing “Pinan” (Heian) as part of this blog entry and their meaning will be explained in the podcast.

I believe that Anko Itosu (the creator of the Pinan Series) did not intend for these characters to be read as “Peaceful Mind” and that they do in fact have a name directly related to their purpose and combative function. The view expressed in this podcast runs contrary to the universally accepted meaning of “Pinan” and I am aware that this view is potentially controversial. To my knowledge, I am also the only person to who has suggested this alternative theory to the widely accepted “Peaceful Mind”. However, by suggesting it, I hope that others will look at the evidence for themselves and come to their own conclusions. So what does “Pinan” mean? And why do I now doubt the accepted translation of “Peaceful Mind”? You’ll have to listen to the podcast to find out!

The second part of the podcast covers some of my answers to the questions posed to me as part of Martial Arts Illustrated’s “Ask the Experts” column. The questions in this podcast relate to the creation of kata and which past master I would most like to talk to and what questions would I ask them. I hope you enjoy the podcast!

Best Wishes,

Iain

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This month’s podcast is entitled “The most important part of practical karate training” and, as its name suggests, it covers the most important part of karate training! The podcast is just over 17 minutes long and should be of interest to all those who believe karate training should address the needs of self-protection. Please see the foot of this blog entry to download the podcast or listen to it on-line.

I’d also like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for their support of these podcasts and for enthusiastically spreading the word. I’m delighted with the feedback we are getting and that so many people are listening to them. Thank you very much!

I hope you enjoy this month’s podcast and if you’d like to be informed as soon as next month’s is available, please be sure to subscribe to the newsletters. Thanks once again for your support.

Best Wishes,

Iain

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